Why the study?
Acute pericarditis after radiotherapy is infrequent and underdiagnosed, requiring early suspicion, while radiation-induced valvular heart disease has distinctive characteristics and therapeutic approaches.
Thoracic radiation can cause uncommon short- and long-term cardiological side effects, such as acute pericarditis and valvular heart disease, requiring a multidisciplinary approach.
Raises suspicion for underdiagnosed radiation pericarditis to avert constriction; leaves open optimal screening for valvular disease in survivors.
Radiotherapy is an essential treatment of more than 50% of oncohematological patients. Pericardial disorders and valvular heart disease are two common radiotherapy complications. Acute pericarditis is infrequent and usually underdiagnosed. Therefore, diagnostic suspicion and early treatment are mandatory to avoid the evolution to constrictive pericarditis. The prevalence of radiation-induced valvular heart disease is common in patients with a history of Hodgkin's lymphoma and breast cancer. It has distinctive characteristics from other etiologies and, thus, different therapeutic approaches. We present two cases of unusual complications of radiotherapy; the first one in the acute setting and the second one during the follow-up in the chronic phase. A multidisciplinary and individualized approach with specific considerations is decisive in the management of these patients.
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Coma et al. (2023) studied this question.
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